Arachnid Online
by I.S. AWESOME 2014
Summary: After tragedy strikes, the Parker family moves in fear that their city was getting worse by the day. Unfortunately, they moved from the frying pan to the digital fire.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Spider-Man or Sword Art Online

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"Stupid jet lag." I grumbled after what was quite possibly the hundredth yawn of the day. If it was an option, I would've stayed home until the jet lag wore off. Unfortunately, it wasn't even worth discussing. If it wasn't for my high grades and the fact that Anna Watson, one of Aunt May's friends, had some connections to the school, I probably would've been stuck with homeschooling. Heck, between constantly falling asleep and the repeated tardiness, even homeschooling would be a shot in the dark. Not that we were rolling in money by this point. The sole reason I haven't been kicked out of school was that teachers were showing me a lot leeway. A preemptive shake if my head kept the thoughts from surfacing, though only barely.

While I've never exactly been Mr. Popularity, I had become admittedly withdrawn after It happened. It didn't help that the students treated me like I was a specimen under a microscope. So when lunch time came, I snuck away from all the people who were incessantly asking me questions about life in New York. Taking out the map the principal gave me with my class schedule, I started to head out towards my destination. In my mind, I already had my plan laid out: I would go in, clear my mind with a little work, maybe eat the food Aunt May made, and then go to the next class with all my classmates none the wiser.

The only problem was that I neglected to open the pamphlet ahead of time. Seeing the piece of paper was written in Japanese, a language I only barely understood, I felt a wave of dread creep inside me.

With a groan, I slid to the ground. Placing an arm over my eyes, I thought to myself, 'what a failure' as my eyes began to sting.

"Na-nani tetsudaimashou ka?" A feminine voice called out.

I pulled my arm away to see who was talking. With my vision restored, I saw a girl around my age wearing the school uniform. She had short, dark hair with white ribbons framing her bangs and half-rimmed glasses balanced on her nose. The moment the girl refused to meet me in the eyes was when I realized I had started crying even before she announced her presence.

"Eigo ka?" I asked, wiping my eyes.

"I-I asked if you needed help." She said.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the chemistry lab is, would you?" The girl nodded and pointed down the hallway.

"Go down this hallway then turn left. It'll be the first room on the right."

"Thanks. You're a life saver." I said to her as I rushed towards the direction of the laboratory to finish the compound before my lunch period ended. It wasn't until the laboratory was within my line-of-sight that I realized I didn't get the girl's name.

'I'll ask her if I run into her again.' I reminded myself.

Being back in my element, I started moving with a fluidity that would've made an onlooker believe I had grown up in this building. It didn't take long for me to finish what I set out to do and leave, though I did have to make sure to hide proof of my presence, since I wasn't exactly supposed to be here.

I was so engrossed in the movement that I barely got everything put up when the bell for the next class rang. Fortunately, there were more students around that I can get information from, though it took several tries before I found anyone who could speak enough English. Nothing much happened after that and the school day passed in a blur.

While leaving campus, a horrible realization revealed itself. The rush I was in this morning to not be tardy had caused me to leave all my recently converted money at the apartment. I walked away from the crowded area around the front gates to check my phone's GPS for the quickest way home. My search was halted at seeing something…unexpected. The alley was already filled with four girls. Even fresh from a different country, I was able to recognize a shakedown when I saw it. It was this knowledge that had me digging through my bag for my phone while Larry and Curly were standing on either side of a girl. Damsel in Distress was trapped between the three stooges. Unlike Damsel and the two stooges, I could see Moe's face. The remaining girl had narrow eyes and a pointed chin. Damsel in Distress was holding her bag tight in her hand, she turned to reveal Damsel was actually Ribbons, the girl who helped me earlier. My search was renewed at this, but I soon concluded that my phone was most likely with my wallet.

Ribbons was about to leave, only to be stopped by Moe. The girl slowly uncurled her fist to the shape of a gun. I almost face vaulted at seeing the Moe's stinginess. I would've chocked it up as some weird Japanese culture thing and just start walking away. That was if Ribbons didn't go ramrod straight, with the only visible movement being her quaking legs. My experience from New York was telling me it would be best to stay a nobody, but every cell in my body was urging me to help Ribbons. I was about to listen to the latter, when my mind provided a way to do both.

"Help!" I called out. "A girl's being mugged!"

Just as expected, the three ran out of the alley way. Once they were gone, I entered the alley. The girl was gasping for breath. Her shaky arms were the only thing stopping her from hitting the ground. My first instinct was to rush to the girl's aid, but I remembered the rules when dealing with people going through a panic attack. There were more things I could do, but most of them would only make things worse if someone she didn't know tried it. So I took a stance just outside her personal space and as softly as I could, I said, "You're safe. No one can hurt you now." It didn't take long before her breathing started to slow. "Is there anything you need?"

"I'm fine. Thanks." She said, her eyes averted. Ribbons dipped to pick up her back and started to rush off.

"I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Peter Parker." I said before she could.

It looked like the girl was still about to rush off, but instead she said, "Shino Asada."

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	2. Chapter 2

I DON'T OWN SPIDER-MAN OR SAO

Beta-read by Ruellya

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I had just prevented a crime from happening but this crime stood apart from all the ones I had stopped in my entire time in New York. It wasn't because this was the first crime I stopped in my new home or that I managed to not beat someone up or even use my alter-ego. No.

What made this intervention stood out from the rest was the way the victim reacted.

It's not like it's strange for a mugging victim to show signs of fear when they realize what's going on. Heck, it'd be weird if there wasn't any reaction. What happened though was completely unexpected. The attempted mugger had only shaped her hand into a resemblance of a gun but the reaction of the other girl was too extreme. The gesture was not threatening in the slightest, except that that it was enough to cause the victim, Shino Asada, to go catatonic.

After seeing the vacant look in the girl's eyes, I didn't feel right leaving Shino on her own. Not wanting to risk freaking her out by offering to walk her home, I asked her to act as my guide. To be honest, I was mildly surprise when she agreed to my request, I had half expected that she would decline.

"This is it." Shino announced, pulling me from my thoughts. For my first stop on the Asada tour route, I asked her for a quiet place to eat. The place she had in mind was a park with a couple of swings and a single wooden picnic table.

My stomach chose that moment to remind me that in my haste to make enough fluid, I neglected to eat. Careful to not allow the girl to see my gear, I pulled the food from my bag. "Want some?" I offered some of the food. "It's Aunt May's almost-world-famous home cooking."

"No, thank you." She refused to look up from the ground, letting silence return to the area. I was forced to scan my mind for possible conversation topics. Unfortunately, all I could think of were cliché topics like the weather or something on the TV. I doubt though that we would have much to say about TV shows, seeing that I came from a completely different country; and the day I resort to asking about how good or bad the weather is would be the same day I hang up my tights.

'Stupid jet lag.' I thought, as I rejected each and every idea that came to my mind. Once the last idea was shot down, I thought, 'nothing you say afterwards will be more awkward than this.'

"So, what was the deal with the world's cheapest mugger?" I asked, immediately regretting it. The look on the Japanese girl's face shifted from one of indifference to one of sorrow and regret.

'Quick! Mention the weather!' I reprimanded myself. Of course, my mouth chose then to ignore my commands and remained closed. Shino released a sigh. For a second, I thought she'd leave me to find my own way home, but what happened surprised me.

"That was Endou." She answered. I thought Shino would leave it there and just let us return to the silence that would be bliss compared to this conversation. "She acted like my friend so she could use me. But when I ended the 'friendship' she found out about my past."

"Your past?" The words slipped from my mouth before I could think better of it. 'Now you choose to move!?' The girl's eyes widened to the size of platters. She soon recovered from her shock and a sad smile had worked its way onto her face.

"I really don't want to talk about it." She answered meekly. I was going to try to remedy the situation, but was stopped cold by her words. "I just remembered I still have a lot of homework." She told me, packing up her bags. I tried to offer to walk her home, but she refused my invitation. Deciding to stop before I made the girl even more uncomfortable, I let her go on her way home.

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'I can't believe I actually thought I met someone who didn't care about what happened.' That's what I was thinking as my back was pressed against the gate surrounding the roof. Yesterday, I was saved by the transfer student, Peter Parker. He showed me no malice. In fact, he seemed genuine in his desire to help me, but near the end, I realized the reason why he wasn't behaving like everyone else in school. He had only been here for a day, and his Japanese was almost non-existent to boot, so of course he wouldn't know what happened five years ago. After realizing such an obvious answer, I left. Better to cut ties now than to get hurt when he finds it out.

It doesn't make it any easier though.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were avoiding me." A voice called out. I barely stopped a shriek from coming out as I turned to see Mr. Parker standing in the doorway. Despite the words, the transfer student held a sarcastic smirk that made it obvious he was joking.

"What're you doing here?"

"I wanted to say sorry about yesterday." Parker's smirk dropped and used a hand to rub the back of his neck. "Who knew I was agile enough to fit a foot into my mouth?"

"Don't worry about it." I answered, expecting him to go back to his normal day. Instead, he chose to take a seat next to me.

"I forgive you. You don't have to sit here." I said.

"I'm not sitting here because I have to. I'm sitting here because I want to be your friend." My heart rate picked up at those words. He wanted to be my friend? The sheepish grin was no longer there, in its stead, however, was a strangely disarming smile. I shook my head to dispel those foolish thoughts.

"No, you don't." It took all my willpower to force the words out.

"Geez, pushy." Parker yawned. "You'd fit right in New York."

I can't say that I hadn't thought of enjoying the time before he learned what everyone else knew. However, that could create another Endou so the best course of action would be to tell him what everyone else knows.

"I–" Despite knowing he'd figure it out soon enough, I had trouble voicing the truth. So with a deep breath, I told him what he would find out sooner or later. "I'm a murderer."

"Wrong." He answered, not even looking up from the meal he brought. I couldn't formulate a response for several seconds. It occurred to me that he might think I was lying or maybe my words might have been lost in translation. Before I could figure out what to do, he added, "A murderer wouldn't care if they killed someone."

"H-how can you be so sure?" I asked, wanting desperately for him to be right, but I still have my doubts if he was even grasping the situation correctly.

"I've met several murderers, none of them regretted killing until they had to pay. But, I know someone who was haunted after he was forced to kill to protect someone. Sometimes, good people are forced to do things they never even considered doing."

My throat went dry as I listened to him talk. Was I hearing him right? Was he saying that he didn't see me as a monster? Despite knowing the truth? The confidence in his voice made me rethink my doubts that he was trying to take advantage of me. It felt as though someone was pumping helium into my chest. I tilted my head away from the transfer student as something wet trailed down my cheeks.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to upset you." Parker got up to leave, completely abandoning the small box of food that sat at his legs. He stopped at hearing a small laugh that had managed to escape my lips. Parker actually thought I was sad.

"I'm not upset." I tilted my head back up, allowing him to see the smile that I'm certain I couldn't get rid of if I tried.


End file.
